


Another Chance

by WriterSine



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Brief mentions of assault, Brief mentions of incarceration re: Dimitri, Cat Owners, Felix Week (Fire Emblem), Inspired by Fanart, M/M, They're college students, Written for Felix's Birthday Bash, by @bumblevetr on twitter, dimilix, link in the notes, more tags to come?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-22
Updated: 2020-02-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:47:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22841224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WriterSine/pseuds/WriterSine
Summary: Five years after tragedy blew their lives apart, Dimitri moves back to Fhirdiad and into Felix's life again. This would be easier to take if Felix still didn't have feelings for him. And if Dimitri hadn't nearly killed a man.But five years is a long time. Maybe just long enough.
Relationships: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/Felix Hugo Fraldarius
Comments: 4
Kudos: 20
Collections: Felix Birthday Week 2020





	Another Chance

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Dimilix Own All the Cats](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/561538) by Bumblevetr. 



> Just wanted to give a shoutout to @bumblevetr on Twitter who's fanart inspired this story and got me to ship Dimilix. Though I got the cats backwards, in this story Bastard is the cat they own first.
> 
> Also please take note that this story contains mentions of a character being in juvenile detention and assault.

“So, Felix,” Sylvain said as Felix prepared to roll the sushi. “Did you hear Dimitri’s moving back to town?”

Felix grit his teeth and lifted the edge bamboo mat. If he didn’t keep the right amount of tension it wouldn’t form a good roll. He could sense Sylvain on his left, however, leaning against the counter. The pressure of his attention and expectant silence, oppressive. Felix said nothing and kept his eyes on his work.

“I woulda thought your dad might've told you.”

“He did," Felix said. His grip on the roll tensed. A bit of rice squeezed out the side. Rodrigue had called two days ago.  _ "Dimitri called, he'll be in town looking for a place to lease this week. He asked how you were doing, Felix. You should give him a call."  _ Felix carefully prodded it back in and continued rolling. He had not listened to Rodrigue's suggestion.

"I was thinking we should offer him a room here," Sylvain said.

Felix finished making the sushi and set it on a cutting board. "You want to let him live here? What possessed you to think that was a good idea?" He shot Sylvain a glare as he picked up a knife and cut the sushi into pieces.

Sylvain raised his brows. "Because, he's our friend. He needs a place to live while he goes to school. And I'd rather split our rent and utilities between three people, not two. That was never the point of signing this lease."

"Maybe if you hadn't driven Ashe away with your constant philandering we'd still have a third roommate, Felix snapped as he lay a second sheet of nori on the bamboo mat. 

Sylvain covered his eyes with his palm. He had the grace to  _ sound _ contrite at least when he said, "I'm sorry about that. It was a wild night, things got a little out of hand."

Felix scoffed and spread rice on the nori. 

He'd arranged the other ingredients and started rolling it up when Sylvain said, "How about this, we have him over for dinner and see how it goes, then you can decide."

Felix rolled his eyes. "There's nothing to decide. He's an animal, Sylvain. You weren't at the courthouse that day. He nearly beat a man to death with his bare hands! Seventeen years old. He's a feral beast." He was gripping the roll too tightly. Felix’s face felt hot.

"Arundel ordered that hit on his dad, can you blame him?"

"Don't take that line of bullshit with me," he snapped. Sure enough, the roll was too small and bits of rice had fallen out. Felix tried to fix what he could and started cutting it into pieces. 

Sylvain smiled without humor. "Alright, sorry, Felix."

Felix plated the last of the sushi and shoved the plates across the counter to him. Anger burned under his breastbone. He quickly set about quick clean up, putting his utensils in the sink and giving them a quick rinse. He didn't want Sylvain to apologize, just like he didn't want to think about Dimitri. 

Dimitri, his long legs tangled with Felix's as they sat in the tree house, blushing as he asked if Felix thought about girls much. Dimitri sitting alone in the police station, looking as gutted and hollow as Felix felt. Dimitri, kneeling above Arundel, snarling and screaming as he smashed his head against the floor. Felix put the last of the radish back in the fridge and shut the door. The firm clunk loud in the quiet kitchen. 

He joined Sylvain at the small table. Sylvain had already opened a beer for him. Bastard came into the kitchen, pausing in the doorway, his tail flicking as he surveyed them. He made eye contact with Felix and meowed. Felix ignored him and ate a piece of sushi and wasabi. The cat padded under the table and Felix felt him rub against his ankles. The tight feeling in his chest eased. 

After a few minutes Sylvain said, “We should have a small party to celebrate the start of the semester. Get some friends over.” His expression brightened. “You can make those crab things again!”

“I’ll think about it,” Felix said. He had seen some really beautiful crab in the market today. “Maybe if you spring for it.”

Sylvain laughed and dunked a piece of sushi into the dish of soy sauce. “I get to eat the leftovers. Sold.”

After dinner Felix went to where Bastard lay on the kitchen floor, watching them. Behind him there was the clack of dishware as Sylvain gathered their dirty dishes. “Hey Felix,” he said.

Felix straightened, Bastard cradled in his arms. He glanced back.

Sylvain slung a dish towel over his shoulder. “Think about Dimitri, okay? Five years is a long time.”

Felix turned away so only Bastard could see hurt on his face. “Yeah, it is,” he said and walked out of the kitchen.

He took Bastard to his bedroom and lounged back on his bed with the latest issue of  _ Food & Wine  _ magazine. Bastard tolerated approximately five pats before deciding he was through with the attention. He moved to the far corner of the bed where he lay with his feet tucked under him. Felix adjusted the pillow behind him and tried to focus on the article about chorizo, but the words kept drifting through his mind like smoke through a vent.

“Dammit,” he said and dropped the magazine onto his lap. Felix smoothed his hand over his hair.

Bastard looked at him, one ear flicked in his direction. “Meow.”

“You didn’t see him,” Felix said. “I thought I knew him. He was like a boar tearing apart carrion. I’ve never seen anyone that mindless.” What he couldn’t confess, even to Bastard was that it had scared him then. He thought about what Sylvain said. Felix sighed. “You think I haven’t wanted my best friend back?” he whispered.

“Mrow.”

“Better not to see him at all. It’s not worth if he turns out to be some fucking monster.” Felix picked up the magazine. He’d read a sentence about sausage when Bastard came over and butted his head against Felix’s hand. He stepped into the circle of Felix’s arms, blocking his view of the magazine. Felix let out a quiet laugh and rubbed the back of Bastard’s head. He started to purr.

The next morning on his way out of the house he said to a sleepy Sylvain, “You can ask him over for lunch next Saturday if he’s free, but we have plans afterward, so he can’t stay past that.” 

“Huh?” Sylvain reached for a mug without looking at it and missed. He glanced down, blinking and picked up the mug. “Whatever makes you happy, Felix.”

//\\\\_//\\\

The quiche was ready and keeping warm. The slaw was mixed and chilling in the fridge. Felix took a portion of the bruschetta topping and placed it on top of the crostini. The doorbell rang. He glanced at the clock. It was five minutes until noon, exactly. Typical Dimitri. Felix’s stomach did a little flip. He took a deep breath and topped another crostini.

There came the sound of the front door opening. “Hey, Dimitri. Welcome. You’re a little early, hungry?” Sylvain said. He chuckled.

Dimitri let out a small laugh. The sound, the cadence was so familiar, even five years later.  _ It’s been over five years since I heard Dimitri laugh _ . The thought made him feel as if someone were squeezing his heart. “Hello, Sylvain. I am a little, I must confess. However my chief concern was ensuring that I didn't upset your timetable for the evening,” Dimitri said.

Felix froze, his mind going blank. The tomato mixture dripped from his still hand back into the bowl. Then he remembered what he told Sylvain a week ago.  _ Fuck, what are we doing afterward? _ Had Sylvain told him? No, Felix didn’t think he had. Teeth gritted Felix finished topping the crostini.

“Don’t worry about it,” said Sylvain expansively.

“Here, these are for you both. Thank you for inviting me to lunch,” Dimitri said. Felix heard the rustle of plastic.

“Oh, thanks man, you didn’t have to.”

“Not at all, Sylvain. It was my pleasure.”

There was another rustle. “Um, I’d go look for a vase or something but we should probably run these by Felix to make sure they’re safe.”

Felix finished the last piece of bruschetta and wiped his hands clean on the towel hanging at his waist. He went into the hall. Sylvain and Dimitri stood in the living room, just beyond the entryway. Sylvain held a bouquet of daisies, snapdragons, and carnations, wrapped in plastic. Felix stopped as his eyes fell on Dimitri. 

He’d always been tall and athletic. Now Dimitri stood taller than even Sylvain. His lean build during puberty had filled out into broad shoulders and defined muscles under the white shirt he wore. Felix could trace the contours of his pecs from across the room. Heat washed through his belly and up through his body. 

Dimitri's blond hair was long now and pulled back in a messy ponytail that left plenty of hair at the back loose. It also threw the eye patch covering his right eye into sharp relief. He turned to face Felix. A broad smile lit up his face. “Hello, Felix, it’s good to see you again.”

Felix pulled his gaze from the eye patch to meet Dimitri’s remaining eye.

“I hope the flowers are a good host gift. Unless you’re allergic?” Dimitri said, his smile fading and his tone turning uncertain.

“I’m not allergic,” Felix said. His chest felt tight and his face felt hot.

A beat of awkward silence followed. 

Sylvain said, “I’m gonna go find a bowl for these or something.” He passed Felix and disappeared down the hall.

“What happened to your eye?” Felix asked, tone short.

Dimitri touched the edge of the eye patch with his fingertips. “I got into a fight when I was in juvenile detention. They’d managed to make a shiv and got in a lucky strike before I could defend myself.”

Felix scoffed. “You didn’t start it?”

“No, I didn’t, Felix,” Dimitri replied, his tone stiff, as if he were feeling affronted that Felix had even asked. There was another moment of awkward silence, then Dimitri spoke again, “Rodrigue said you’re almost done with culinary school. I’m looking forward to trying your cooking.” His tone was casual again, polite.

Years before when Dimitri was diplomatic or mollifying Felix had not minded much, he’d even taken comfort in Dimitri’s propensity to pour oil on troubled waters. Now the polite tone made him feel like Bastard when he saw a squirrel through the window. He untensed his jaw enough to say, “I’d better check the quiche, then.” Without waiting for a reply he returned to the kitchen.

Sylvain was arranging the flowers in a large pitcher Felix used for mixing drinks. 

“You’re supposed to trim the stems, you idiot,” Felix snapped.

“I did,” Sylvain said and pointed at the trash. On top were one inch stubs of flower stems. 

“Fine,” Felix said. He snatched the pitcher and put it on the table. “Go talk to him. I’m going to set the table.” He shoved Sylvain toward the hall.

Sylvain leaned back, resisting the push. “I’m going to take a leak. You go talk to him.”

Felix spared Sylvain’s retreating back one glare and arranged the pitcher on the table where it wouldn’t get in the way. He listened to their brief exchange as he took out the slaw and unwrapped the tea towels from around the quiche, arranging them on the table with the plate of bruschetta. Down the hall he heard Dimitri laugh quietly. Unable to avoid it any longer he went down the hall to tell Dimitri lunch was ready.

**Author's Note:**

> This got posted late because I decided to participate in Felix week at the last second and did not plan things out very well. Thank you for reading it. I promise they will eventually adopt more cats.


End file.
